Decorated

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A meme for us to enjoy the holidays with.
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Usually, the very first Christmas decorations that come out every year are the Nativity scenes, and quite often they'll be out for a week before our tree gets put up (although it didn't happen that way this year. Bummer.)

I have a small set that I brought back from Ecuador, and it sits on my kitchen window sill--it's probably my favorite simply because it came from home.

Then there's the set that Jim brought home from Kenya, when he was there on a missions trip just a couple weeks before our youngest was born. This set isn't pretty, but it resembles the Masai people who carved it, and that's where the beauty is for me. Yes, the wise men pieces are up, and I understand that they weren't at the manger that night, but I can't bear to not put them up, so they're there, too.

The kids' favorite Nativity set, by far, is the set my parents gave us. They made sure to find a kid-friendly set that will last for years even with constant kid-handling. This one goes on our school cabinet where kids have been know to arrange and re-arrange it.

We seem to have a repeat performance going on here. A few years ago, after setting up the tree, my youngest wasn't feeling well and he and Linus curled up under the tree. Linus napped while my little guy watched the movie. This year, the day after the tree went up, my youngest spent the day on the couch, probably because he's no longer little enough to tuck himself under the tree. Not that we let the kids play or be under the tree, but when you happen to look over and see a sick lil one snuggling your cat under the tree you can't help but melt just a little (and snap a picture, LoL).

One of the favorite Christmas decoration is this train. It doesn't normally sit in front of the fireplace, but the kids were watching a movie (our tv lives in the closet) so we moved it out of the way so they could camp out on the floor and not be scrunched up on the couch.

Some years I try to get out of setting up the Christmas village, but the kids usually veto that. This is another thing they loved when they were younger because they were allowed to arrange it, which naturally resulted in broken pieces. But they glue up well enough and it's worth it for the kids to enjoy it so much. On the window sill is Mr. & Mrs. Snowman, who were some of my very first Christmas decorations.

These little guys are some of my favorites and every year they sit on the sashing of my kitchen windows. They're among the last of the Christmas decorations to be put away, and often hang around until almost Spring.

There you have it--a simple Christmas in the corn fields at the edge of nowhere. So tell me, what's your favorite Christmas decoration?

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On deck for next week: Christmas Baking... Recipes... funnies... memories from the kitchen...

6 comments:

Thank you for sharing these adorable and even some unique Christmas decorations. You've put me in the mood to start pulling out some of mine! I have couple of stuffed snowman and they're among my very favorites, they just look so happy and jolly sitting around! Hugs!

Your decorations are precious! My favorite decorations aren't actually up yet, although we did do the tree this weekend. We have a shelf across the length of our room and my Precious Redhead insists on putting on it's Christmas suit ever year with lights and the many Christmas standables we've collected.

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life and surrendered her pen to Him, she's been happy. Life is never dull as she juggles being a wife, mom to a handful of kids and a couple of Capuchin monkeys, life on the road, and being a writer. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity in the zoo she lives in. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise she would be living with the scaredy cats at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting. You can find her on Instagram, too, where she daily sneaks in a few sane moments.